Thurs – 12/6: Deadline 12/10 – Protect Net Neutrality – last lap.

You may be thinking…didn’t we just WIN the battle over net neutrality in California? Aren’t we good now?

Yes. No. There are actually two battles, one being our own state laws and the other in the federal legislature. We need to win the federal battle to guarantee that our state law wins a court battle against the Department of Justice.

Action #1 – Call all your friends, relatives and every other sentient being you know who (currently) has a GOP Representative.

If their House member(s) is not currently signers of this petition, (Check here) please have them call and ask them to do so prior to Dec. 10th, when the clock runs out for net neutrality.

Beware: The staff that answers the phone may say that your House member is supporting HR 4682 – “The Open Internet Preservation Act, instead, a FAKE net neutrality bill that actually legalizes paid prioritization – the act of charging for speed with extra fees. Tell them that “this is not acceptable and they need to sign the DISCHARGE PETITION.”

We can only hope that many of these duplicious legislators, like cosponsor and soon to be former-Rep. Steve Knight (CA-25), will not be returning after the new year.

Action #2 – Have those same people sign this petition also.

Have them send this petition to their legislators. Republican legislators that retained their seat by a small margin will be more amenable. This is truly a bipartisan public issue. 82% of Republicans want this to happen.

Action #3 – Email our own legislators and thank them for doing the right thing.

Background on the two battlegrounds.

The State fight:

Although CA and a number of other states passed net neutrality laws, the Department of Justice filed suit, charging that state-determined internet laws violated the F.C.C.’s role as the sole authority to create rules for broadband internet providers.

CA and the Justice Department have agreed to postpone mutual litigation until a case in front of the D.C. Circuit court on the legality of the FCC 2017 rule change is completed. As part of that deal, CA officials have agreed not enforce our new tough new law, SB 822, on January 1, when it should have taken effect.

Ajit Pai – FCC Chairman: “I am pleased that California has agreed not to enforce its onerous Internet regulations. This substantial concession reflects the strength of the case made by the United States earlier this month.” Ajit Pai – remember him? He’s the one who made that patronizing video to assure us that the huge corporations he works for will still allow us our little distractions.

Scott Weiner, CA State Senator and SB 822 author: “I look forward to successful litigation on this issue and to the restoration of strong net neutrality protections in our state.”

The Federal fight

05/16/18: The Senate passed S.J. Res 52, the resolution to overturn the FCC net neutrality rollback. On a 52-47 vote, Republican Senators Collins (ME), Kennedy (LA), and Murkowski (AK) joined all 49 Senators in the Democratic Caucus in voting Yes.

05/18/18: Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) has filed H.Res. 873, a discharge petition to force a vote in the House on the Senate-passed resolution. A simple majority of House members (218) must sign the petition that is favored by that majority of Americans, (90 percent Democrats, 82 percent Republicans, and 85 percent independents).

The House members who’ve already signed it are listed here, alphabetically here. (Brownley and Carbajal have already signed it. Thank them by email.)

12/10/18: Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can reverse a change in a federal regulation by a simple majority vote within 60 working days after that regulation is published in the official record.Therefore, December 10th is the deadline to reverse the rollback of net neutrality protections. House members must act immediately before it’s too late.

Reading/Resources:

The Path to Victory on Net Neutrality in the House of Representatives and How You Can Help (eff)